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Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie were assassinated
Since the assassin was a Serbian, Austria used this as an excuse to punish Serbia. it ultimately led to war. -
World War I began
Austria gave Serbia an impossible ultimatium, and Serbia tried to reason a new offer, but Austria rejected it. Russia joined in the fighting on Serbia's side. -
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Schlieffen Plan developed and implemented
Germany's General Alfred Graf von Shlieffen made this plan. With the plan, they attacked France and Russia. They overran Belgium and France. -
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Developments on Western Front
The First Battle of the Marne was perhaps the single most important event of war. The defeat of the Germans left the Schlieffen plan in ruins. A quick victory in the west no longer seemed possible. In the east, the Russians forces had already invaded Germany. -
The First Battle of the Marne
They fought for four days, then the Germans retreated. This gave the Allies a lot of confidence. -
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Trench Warfare
By early 1915, opposing armies on the Western Front dug miles of parallel trenches to protect themselves from the enemy fire. -
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Battle on Western Front
Germans launched a massive attack against the French. Each sidde lost 300,000 men. -
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Battle of the Valley of Somme River
The British army tried helping out the French by attacking the Germans northwest of Verdun. On the very first day more than 20, 000 British soldiers were killed. By then end, each side had suffered over half a million casualties. -
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Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
This was a policy where the Germans would sink any ship in the waters of Britain with submarines. After killing many people including U.S. Citizens and President Woodrow WIlson protesting, Germany finally agreed to stop attacking neutral and passenger ships. -
U.S. Enters the War
President Wilson asked Congress to declare war. The United States entered the war on the side of the Allies. -
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Russia receeds from war
Communist leader Vladimir Ilyich Lenin seized power, seeking to remove Russia from the war by offering Germany a truce. -
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Treaty of Brest- Litovsk
Germany and Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which ended the war between them. -
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Second battle of the Marne
Allies defeat Germany. -
WWI ends
World War I came to an end. After four years of slaughter and destruction, the time had come to forge a peace settlement. -
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles between Germany and the Allied powers was signed on June 28, 1919. It gave the terms that Germany had to abide by because they had lost the war.